Chancellor Angela Merkel has seen her popularity slump to its lowest level in nearly four years, reflecting growing concern over the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees into Germany, a poll showed yesterday.
The Deutschlandtrend poll for public broadcaster ARD showed a nine-point plunge in Merkel’s popularity to 54 per cent. While some of her European peers might envy that figure, it was her worst rating since December 2011, when the eurozone financial crisis was raging.
The same survey showed that 51 per cent of respondents – up 13 percentage points in the past month – now say they are scared by the number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany.
More than 200,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived in Germany in September alone – roughly the same as for the whole of last year – and the government estimates that 800,000 or more could come over the course of 2015.
Ms Merkel was initially celebrated at home and abroad for her welcoming approach to the refugees, many of whom are fleeing conflict in the Middle East. But as the flow has continued and German facilities have been stretched to the limit, she has come under increasing criticism.
As immigrant flow continues, Merkel has come under increasing criticism
Her Bavarian allies have accused her of unwittingly encouraging more refugees to come to Germany by taking selfies with them during a visit to a shelter last month and by stating publicly that there was no upper limit to the number that would be accepted.
Since then, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has come out in favour of imposing a ceiling.
The ARD poll pointed to a significant shift in the mood, with 44 per cent of Germans now saying that immigration brings more disadvantages than advantages for Germany, a rise of 11 percentage points from the prior month.
As Ms Merkel’s ratings fell, those of conservative Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer, the most high-profile critic of her refugee policy, shot up 11 points to 39 per cent. Meanwhile, on Tuesday Ms Merkel warned that creating a “safe zone” for refugees in northern Syria could put them at risk of being massacred, starkly distancing her country from a Turkish proposal.
France said on Monday it would discuss with its partners in the coming days the suggestion by Turkey and members of the Syrian opposition that a “no-fly zone” could be created in northern Syria.
Speaking to lawmakers from her party in Berlin, Ms Merkel expressed concern about the dangers of trying to create such a buffer zone.
“If we were not able to guarantee security, then a situation would arise that would be even worse than Srebrenica,” Merkel said, according to a number of people present in the meeting, referring to the slaughter of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces in 1995.
There was concern that Islamic State could overrun such a security zone.
Struggling with more than 1.8 million Syrian refugees, Turkey has long campaigned for a“no-fly zone” in northern Syria to keep Islamic State and Kurdish militants from its border and help stem the tide of displaced civilians trying to cross.